What you eat for breakfast has a HUGE impact on how much fat you burn the rest of the day. Because certain foods can either turn ON or OFF your body’s most powerful fat burning hormones. So, which foods should you eat and which should you avoid to burn belly fat all day? Find out here:

Twelve Fake Foods Being Sold As The Real Thing: Adulterated With GMOs, High-Fructose Corn Syrup, and More

One of the privileges of living in the 21st century is the ability to find quality food items and even import foreign food that would otherwise be inaccessible. Unfortunately, there is a price to pay with this system as many take advantage of the customers’ growing demands.

Food fraud is a $50 billion annual industry, which continues to grow each year and affects many consumers. Whether you are a health enthusiast that is being tricked into buying fake honey or olive oil, or a foodie paying top dollar for imitation lobster or truffle oil, food fraud affects most of us at some point.

From grocery stores and market to restaurant and coffee shops, here is the list of top twelve foods that are most commonly found to be fake.

Olive Oil

Olive oil has many health benefits; it is anti-inflammatory, and helps prevents strokes and heart disease. It is wonderful oil to use…if you find a real one. As Olmsted found out, olive oil is one of the most common fake foods in the U.S – 80-85% of it is fake.

“This is one of the most pervasive Fake Foods in America, reaching deep into home kitchens, restaurants, and supermarkets, and not unfamiliar to the government agencies supposedly watching over our food supply,” Olmsted writes.

Instead of pure olive oil, what you are commonly buying is peanut oil and even soybean oil – a likely GMO food.

The Extra Virgin Alliance, UNAPROL (an Italian olive grower’s association), and the North American Olive Oil Association which tests member samples and uses a red circular logo with a green olive branch, are useful seals of quality to look for on your product. The California Olive Oil Council and the International Olive Council also certify their products according as noted in this article.

Honey

What many people do not realize is that there no real standards to what can be called “honey” when sold in little glass jars. As a result, many places sell honey diluted with sugar, sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup, or even illegal antibiotics.

Thankfully most farmer’s markets include products from local beekeepers that are generally authentic. Do your best to know your source before buying, and ask plenty of questions if you’re skeptical.

Fish

There are many fish species in the world. And those who love fish know that many taste very different from one another. In restaurants however, you never know if you are going to get what you ordered. Fish served there and fish sold in stores is often mislabeled

Red snapper, for example, is fake 94% of the time, as a DNA testing study showed. Sold as a red snapper is a much cheaper fish filet made of various other species. The same is true for many other types of fish. Tuna is also fake an estimated 94% of the time, especially when it is served at sushi restaurants. Instead of tuna, sushi bars often use escolar, a type of fish that often is responsible for giving people diarrhea.

Experts say that if you are buying or ordering an expensive fish, and it is never shown to you whole, you are very likely to be scammed.

Fruit Juice

When buying fruit juice – no matter what kind – you might end up drinking a lot of apple juice. Many companies add apple juice to cut any other fruit juices, because apples are cheaper.

But this scam does not stop there. Even though apples are inexpensive, Chinese-made apple concentrate is even cheaper, and that is what you are likely to be drinking.

Check your ingredients lists and buy from trusted companies, or make your own to avoid these scams.

Coffee

As common as coffee is, it is also often cut with cheaper materials in order for the seller to make more money on it. The hidden ingredients in it can be: twigs, corn, barley, and parchment. It gets worse when it comes to instant coffee. It can be mixed with chicory, cereals, caramel, parchment, start, malt, and figs, according to Olmsted.

If you want a guarantee that your coffee is 100% pure, it is best to get the beans and grind it yourself.

Tea

Who does not like a cup of fresh brewed tea? Unfortunately, to keep teas smelling fresh longer, instead of disclosing its natural shelf life, some companies are adding sawdust to make teas last longer.

Buy from trustworthy organic and local producers to minimize this risk whenever possible.

Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese

Real parmesan cheese is often named the King of Cheeses for its taste. But here in the U.S., you are likely to get stuck with many of its fake doubles. According to a 2016 FDA study, almost 100% of this cheese in the U.S. is mixed with cheaper cheese or even wood pulp to lower the costs.

If you want to find a real one, be sure to look for the rare “Made in Italy” stamp on it.

Real Kobe beef goes for $150 per pound and higher. Think you are getting the real thing at a restaurant? Think again. PHOTO: Pixabay

Japan’s Kobe Beef

Kobe beef is one of the most treasured meats in the meat industry. It has originated in Japan and receives an A5 grade for its taste, but now can be also raised in Australia or Japan. This meat is extremely expensive as it requires many steps to achieve its texture. The cows raised for Kobe beef are treated close to royalty…up until they are slaughtered. They are given beer. They receive daily massages. And they are even played classical music.

If raised correctly Kobe beef is sold for $150 per pound and higher. Unfortunately, many places want to charge the same price without doing any work. As a result, Business Insider found that only eight restaurants in the U.S. sell authentic Kobe beef. All others are likely to be scamming their customers.

Spices

If you like to cook, you might have noticed that some cheap spices bought at supermarkets have no real smell or taste. Often, they smell like dried up weeds from outside. That is because they are often mixed with random ingredients. Turmeric is often mixed with corn; nutmeg – with pepper, and oregano with weeds.

Truffle Oil

Truffle oil is one of the recent food crazes, with restaurants serving French fries drizzled with “truffle oil,” and cafes are selling “truffle oil” popcorn. Sadly, none of the truffle oil dishes contain much if any truffle content. Truffles – real truffles – are extremely rare and expensive (real truffle oil can go for $90 per ounce).

What you buy as truffle oil is often a synthetic chemical combination that attempts replicates the taste. As Olmsted toldUSA Today:

“Most people have no idea what real truffles taste like — certainly not like plastic or gasoline.”

The most common ingredients used to make it are 2,4-dithiapentane mixed with olive oil, as well as bismethyl(dithio)methane (also known as 2,4-dithiapentane). This concoction makes the oil cheap but lacking any medicinal properties that real truffles have (truffles are great for heart health, circulation, blood sugar levels, and the immune system). Instead, fake truffle oil may have negative effect on health: 2,4-dithiapentane in high quantities carries risks for the central nervous system. While the fake truffle oil in question uses it in lower quantities, it is likely not worth the risk, and definitely not worth the high price it is being sold for.

Lobster

Lobster is expensive, which is why that Lobster dinner special from your favorite restaurant could well be a mixture of shrimp and crab. While there is nothing wrong with either, you are better off buying them cheaper than the fake lobster unless you can be confident in the source of your meal.

Champagne

Real champagne comes from the Champagne region of France, and there is a misconception that it is illegal to call any other sparkling drink champagne. That is false. At least half “champagne” bottles on the market are from California and other places. While there are not health risks, you are likely to be spending way more money than this fake beverage is worth.

Olmsted’s book Real Food/Fake Food also explores the lies the food industry tells the consumers when it claims that the food is locally source or “farm to table,” or that they have sustainable or humane practices.

If you’re buying any of these 12 foods make sure you thoroughly examine, question and educate yourself on the source before spending extra money.

Also, it is pretty much always a good idea to buy organic and from independent, local producers and farmers whenever possible to minimize food fraud and make sure you’re not the latest victim of one of these scams. It won’t guarantee 100% immunity, but it’s a great place to start (to say the very least).

11 pounds in 22 days?

baking soda

Is it REALLY possible to lose 11 lbs. of fat in 22 days? Actually yes… BUT only when you’re a level 4 fat burner. Unfortunately, most people are stuck as level 1 fat burners. So, how do you become a level 4 fat burner to lose up to 11 lbs. in 22 days? Simply eat these foods daily:

PS - Studies show that not only can healthy levels of this powerful calorie-burning hormone devour bodyfat and fortify soft muscle, but it can also reduce your risk of diabetes by 53.7%, a heart attack by 83.3% and stroke by 51.4%. Here's more of the scientific proof...

But there is a lot of confusion as to where bread fits into a healthy diet.

The Bible practically commands followers to eat it: “Give us this day our daily bread…” The government put it at the base of the food pyramid. And for centuries, it has been called “the staff of life.”

The average American consumes 55 pounds of wheat flour every year, making refined flour the #1 source of calories in the American Diet – a situation that nutrition expert Chris Kresser describes as, “a public health catastrophe.”

Do You Know Your Body’s Most Important Weight Loss Secret?

Recently, Doctor of Naturopathy, weight-loss expert and best-selling Amazon author Liz Swann Miller, creator of the Red Smoothie Detox Factor, revealed 2 of the secrets to easy, steady weight loss. Secrets the big food corporations do their best to hide from us.

Secret #1: Enjoy real food. Don’t fall for the lie that you have to deprive yourself to lose weight.

Secret #2: stop eating out. You will automatically eat less without even noticing.

Then start detoxing your body with tasty, nourishing smoothies that are just as easy on your wallet as they are easy to make.

Because a single day of enjoying Liz’ smoothies demonstrated the radical power of her superfood-packed red smoothies to make me feel incredibly good.

Now prepare yourself for one of the biggest weight loss secrets there is. A secret that, when you use it properly, can transform your body and your health.

You probably know most of us eat too much processed food. What you may not know is that it’s full of toxic chemicals and substandard, dirt-cheap ingredients designed to make you eat more…and force you to gain weight.

Here’s how it works.

“That stuff is just a lot of calories your body can’t use,” Liz told me, “Some are poison. And all these foods are stripped of the anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatories that help your body detox. The result? Your body expends huge amounts of calories to eliminatesome toxins—the rest, it stores in your fat to protect you. This is why most people are hungry all the time. They’re not getting energy they need.”

“So… what’s going on with me? Why am I losing weight but not going hungry?”

Liz paused, then dropped the bombshell.

Your body is designed to burn fat. You just have to let it.

“What? I thought we were designed to store fat?!?” We were Skyping and I was practically shouting. Then I heard Liz say…

What good is a fat reserve if you can’t burn it?

Mind blown.

Liz continued: “You’re drinking smoothies packed with phytonutrients, anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatories that pull toxins out of you like a tractor beam. Allowing your body to burn those toxin-filled fat stores… and releasing tremendous amounts of stored energy.”

So that’s why I’m losing weight without going hungry.

Watch Liz’ free presentation. It’s packed with revolutionary weight loss information—information that works. Because it’s based on how nature.

Click the button only if you want to wear smaller clothes, breathe easier, move more freely and just plain feel better.

Because until now, the Red Smoothie Detox Factor has been available only to Liz’ private clients. But now that she’s perfected it to work for almost everyone, almost every time, Liz is sharing it with rest of us so we can feel better and look better.

Because Liz offers a ridiculously good guarantee. You have 60 days to decide you love the Red Smoothie Detox Factor. If you don’t love it—for any reason, or even no reason at all —Liz will refund your money. 100%. No questions asked.

2)Forget what you've read about 10-day lemonade cleanses, 7-day detoxes with green juices and Gwyneth's gruel. All you need to do, and this is perfect for Saturday or or anytime really, is a simple 1-day cleanse.

Nick Meyer is an independent health researcher and journalist and the founder of AltHealthWORKS. Nick's mission is to "tell the many incredible stories of the growing holistic and natural health community, stories that had slipped through the cracks of the traditional media." He's been cited by Dr. Joseph Mercola of Mercola.com and published on the website of The Cornucopia Institute. Nick has also written several books for the Amazon Kindle covering important health topics, which can be viewed here.
Nick is currently offering eatlocalgrown readers a free copy of his e-book 'Healing Secrets of the Amazon Rainforest.'